Nam Heong Ipoh @ The Starling, Damansara Uptown

This post is a follow up on my promise after myIpoh ‘makan-makan’ post. A trip to savour one of the best Ipoh food representative at Klang Valley.

Does it really live up to its reputation?

From the massive crowd queuing at the entrance, it seem like ‘Yes’.

They have a proper queuing system, one just need to get a number from the staff and wait for your number to be called.

The restaurant is bright, spacious and tastefully decorated. A stretch of banquette seat lay against the exposed bricks wall, normal tables and chairs. My only qualm was the place was filled with earsplitting music played at the background and it really annoyed me.

I like the flooring with vintage pattern tiles.

Every table is equipped with a tablet for ordering.

Signature Coffee ‘O’ – Hot (RM3.80) & Soya Milk – Cold (RM4.80)

Egg Tart (RM3.20) & Chicken Sou (RM3.20)

I love egg tarts especially with puff pastry crust like this. I was attracted by trays of freshly baked egg tarts for takeaway at the counter when we were waiting for table. Nam Heong version was disappointed, the egg custard lacked of eggy flavor. The Chicken Sou on the other hand was surprisingly very good, from the buttery and flaky outer to the delicious filling, simply spot on!

Ipoh Style Fresh Poached Baby Octopus (RM7.90)

We have been searching high and low for this delicacy at Klang Valley since our first try atIpoh but our effort did not avail until a friend told me that we can get this here. The presentation was nothing different with the one we had at Ipoh, it was tossed with soy sauce, fried garlic oil and perfumed by sprinkles of fried minced garlic and chopped spring onion. Flavour was alright but the freshness definitely not on a satisfying level, rendering the texture was a bit soft and not the crunchy, firm bite that we would had hoped.

Home Style Nasi Lemak with Curry Pork (RM15.90)

Hubby was attracted by the curry pork but it was different from what we had expected it to be, we couldn’t find any pork chunks in the curry. The only element noteworthy on this plate was the fragrant rice, other condiments such as squid sambal, peanuts, fried anchovies, luncheon meat, Chinese sausage, long beans, and fried egg were pretty standard.

Signature Chicken Rice (RM11.90)

The rice of my chicken rice was equally good, very aromatic and flavourful on its own however the chicken missed the mark. It was slightly undercooked and was lukewarm when served to our table.

Wonton Noodles (RM10.50)

The wonton noodles was good though. The noodles was coked to a springy perfection and dressed with robust soy sauce with pleasant hint of pork lard oil (spot those few pieces of fried pork lard). The accompanied soupy pork wonton was meaty and well seasoned.

Verdict: For an established eatery like Nam Heong, I definitely expect more that this. Food we tried was below my expectation and it would be hard to be convinced for a revisit anytime soon.